This morning I made this recipe and while I do like the combination of spices, it seemed a little flat to me, so I added 1 TB cider vinegar and a little Texas Pete hot sauce to zip it up for me. This is a good recipe, but I guess I'm just used to my Aiken SC Pool Hall hot dog chili which is my usual recipe and somewhat simpler.

I'm beyond broke, overdue car payment, wedding to attend next week that's a 2 hour drive for me, etc. I do plan on making this soon, though, like before the end of October.

If all goes well I might think about canning equipment to make a bunch of it to save.

ocalaFL

Any reviews? Liked it, hated it? There were lots of views and would like to see some feedback since it is an actual restaurant recipe. I have others but will not post them until I have a "yes" or "no" on this one.

If my efforts were appreciated, I would like to know. If not, then I won't bother to do so anymore. Must be the NJ attitude in me.

You must not like Texas Weiner style chili then. I've lived in NJ all my life and have never heard of Castleberry's.

Searching the internet for that company, it appears to be nothing special.. just a regular chili sauce? It's made by the same company who does Bumble Bee tuna. Mass-produced stuff isn't going to be any good in my opinion.

I recall getting a pretzel once and the guy also made hot dogs. This one guy came up and ordered two chili dogs. As the guy was in the process of making them the guy came back and says "Wait a minute is that Hormel Chili?" and the guy making them said "Yes" and the other guy said "No, no, I don't want them then." --- I know what he's talking about too. I wouldn't have taken the dogs too. I understand he ordered them, but Hormel sucks, and doesn't even come close to a Texas Weiner sauce.

Your Dad swears he only ate dogs with mustard and kraut and I bet he's telling the truth. New York is different than New Jersey. Texas Weiner sauce is more of a NJ thing. In NY most people I know only eat their dogs with mustard and sometimes kraut. I believe if you go to Walter's in Mamaroneck they only serve it that way. They have their own special mustard. I believe their dogs are veal and beef. Really good.

DawnT

I made this last evening down to the letter. Gulden's,Heinz,L&P. Two thumbs down. Don't know what to make of the taste personally, but there seems to be no homology to the taste and nobody else would eat it. My spouse, who lived in NJ for a few years was expecting something like Castleberry's, my Dad who was born in NY swears up and down he never had a hot dog with a coney island style sauce, just mustard and kraut.

There's a guy in Dunellen right off Route 28 that makes a dog called the Death Dog. I don't know if he's still there. His version has all the toppings on it.

He made his own chili sauce, that was very good, although not Texas Weiner style.. more traditional chili like. Very nice guy too.. he had a deal 4 dogs and a drink for $5 with any toppings you wanted. He sold a few hundred dogs a day there. He had someone bring him supplies to his cart. On hot summer days he'll pay people to push his cart home for him.

I wonder if there's a place I can go to get food analyzed.. like if I pay them $50 or $100 bucks they can tell me what's in it and get pretty close to a "recipe" of sorts. Then put together puzzle pieces from that.

I'm beyond broke, overdue car payment, wedding to attend next week that's a 2 hour drive for me, etc. I do plan on making this soon, though, like before the end of October.

If all goes well I might think about canning equipment to make a bunch of it to save.

ocalaFL

Any reviews? Liked it, hated it? There were lots of views and would like to see some feedback since it is an actual restaurant recipe. I have others but will not post them until I have a "yes" or "no" on this one.

If my efforts were appreciated, I would like to know. If not, then I won't bother to do so anymore. Must be the NJ attitude in me.

What part of this Scenerio don't I understand???

You're Broke

Can't make Car Payment.

Need Money rto attend a Wedding.

Thinking about Canning equipment to can a product you never tried while not being able to afford the equipment and ingredients to do so?????

I'm beyond broke, overdue car payment, wedding to attend next week that's a 2 hour drive for me, etc. I do plan on making this soon, though, like before the end of October.

If all goes well I might think about canning equipment to make a bunch of it to save.

ocalaFL

Any reviews? Liked it, hated it? There were lots of views and would like to see some feedback since it is an actual restaurant recipe. I have others but will not post them until I have a "yes" or "no" on this one.

If my efforts were appreciated, I would like to know. If not, then I won't bother to do so anymore. Must be the NJ attitude in me.

What part of this Scenerio don't I understand???

it seems that this person want to try the stuff, and if he likes it, make it in bulk. oftentimes this type of thing leads to an overall savings.

It may well be that the poor folks in Westchester County, NY are deprived of Texas Hot Wiener sauce, but I can assure you that a few miles up the Hudson River such a sauce ( no beans, no hamburger) has been delighting us hot dogggers since sometime in the early 1920s. Middletown, Walkill, Newburgh, Kingston, Saugerties, Poughkeepsie, and Troy all have great joints serving dogs with a great kind of chili sauce.

When canning meat, you really have to use a pressure canner or don't do it at all! Hot water bath boiling is only for foods high in acid and sugar such as pickles and jams. You run the risk of serious food contamination unless you pressure can this chili sauce with meat in it.

If you have never canned anything, READ, READ, READ up on the process. Get the Ball Blue Book and READ IT! Talk to your Agriculture Extension Agent for your county about canning. Canning foods the proper way involves gathering glass canning jars (that have no cracks or nicks on the rim), sterilizing said jars, keeping said jars hot until you fill them with the hot cooked food, cleaning the rims of the jars after filling, getting out air bubbles, boiling the lids, adjusting the lids after you have put them on, etc. etc. many, many steps in canning - all are crucial.

Do not call me an alarmist! I have a college undergraduate degree in Home Economics and I canned for many years. I know what I am talking about. I just want you to be safe. :o)

Yeah, I hear ya. I did read up a little online so far and found some of the information you gave. It does scare me all the work involved.

tcrouzer

When canning meat, you really have to use a pressure canner or don't do it at all! Hot water bath boiling is only for foods high in acid and sugar such as pickles and jams. You run the risk of serious food contamination unless you pressure can this chili sauce with meat in it.

If you have never canned anything, READ, READ, READ up on the process. Get the Ball Blue Book and READ IT! Talk to your Agriculture Extension Agent for your county about canning. Canning foods the proper way involves gathering glass canning jars (that have no cracks or nicks on the rim), sterilizing said jars, keeping said jars hot until you fill them with the hot cooked food, cleaning the rims of the jars after filling, getting out air bubbles, boiling the lids, adjusting the lids after you have put them on, etc. etc. many, many steps in canning - all are crucial.

Do not call me an alarmist! I have a college undergraduate degree in Home Economics and I canned for many years. I know what I am talking about. I just want you to be safe. :o)

.. because if I put them in jars I could decorate them nicely for a Christmas gift.

My grandmother made homemade apple sauce last year from a deceased relatives way old recipe. They spent the whole day doing things between two people (maybe three). They put on decorative ribbon and stuff on the top, made nice little recipe cards on the computer and tied them with twine.

tommyeats

yuppicide Canning is the scariest part for me because I don't want any contamination.

have you considered simply freezing it? granted, that takes up freezer space, but it's fool-proof.

No, I do have some clue about canning. I've read about a pressure and about acidity. Just still scares me to do it.

If this recipe is (or if we find one) good enough, maybe I can find a commercial service to do it for me and sell. I know Rutger's University has some kind of food lab and commercial kitchens. You can pay them to make the product for you or I think you can rent out the kitchen.

Think it might be a very wise idea to scale the recipe down to half and make up a test batch and have a taste with some other opinions. I dumped nearly 2lbs that's been sitting in the fridge for the past week in a plastic bag last evening for today's trash. Nobody would eat this concoction. None of us ever tasted a sauce like this b4. To those of us that have never had a NJ Texas Weiner, this is just a very strange tasting meat sauce.

Not knocking it, I'm sure there's plenty of things we grew up eating here that would put a grimace on your face. I'm sure that someone from the heartland would have either a puzzled look or spit out the first taste of my Picadillo or the heavily paprika laced tomato based sauce that we put on our Fritas.

Got ya, Dawn. I'm going to go all the way and try it since I alredy bought the meat. I had 99% of the spices already.

You know I only have one other question regarding this recipe.. you say 2 8oz cans of tomato paste.. tomato paste comes in 6 or 12 ounce cans. Tomato sauce however comes in 8 ounce cans..

Did you mean tomato sauce?

I made it with a 6 oz and a 12 oz can of Tomato PASTE and it was the right consistancy.

Here's your TIP OF THE WEEK! Using a can opener, open BOTH ENDS of the can. Use the lid from one end as a plunger and push the paste out the other end. Comes out slick as a whistle! Just make sure you account for both ends of the can!

It's simmering on the stove now. I spent about 30 minutes making everything (not 2 hours as noted). I went with Tomato Sauce since it's what I already bought and it was 8 ounces. Next time I'll try paste.

Initial reaction.. while mixing spices it did kind of smell like a Texas Weiner.

After combining everything in a pot I tasted it. It's a little tangy (maybe because I used whatever ketchup was cheap.. ie: Shoprite brand.. and maybe because using tomato sauce).

After letting it sit for a few minutes, the flavors already are starting to meld together. The tangyness is gone. I think as it goes on and cooks down it'll get thicker and tastier.

I also tried it on some bread. The bread cuts the flavor down a bit and it's actually quite nice.

I feel it's "missing something" to make it just like the Texas Weiner sauces I am used to. It could be a missing ingredient or a wrong amount. I doubt I'll ever be able to put my finger on it. That's not to say this sauce is bad.. I love it.

Only thing is this sauce isn't really the same color as what I am used to. The Texas Weiners I know are more brown colored.

After cooking it I simmered it for awhile longer. It did cook down quite a bit and was almost a consistency that Dawn might have enjoyed more (not as much mush) but she might still not have liked the flavor. I do understand where she's coming from with the whole mix-match of flavors.

I still liked it, though and while I feel it's a very good "all way way" sauce, I wouldn't call it "Texas Weiner" sauce totally.

This morning for some reason I googled "Clixes" restaurant and found this site. I'm the son of the original owner and worked at the family restaurant from 1964 until 1991 when I left to do something different. I saw the recipe that was posted and credited to Clixes secret sauce. I can tell you that the recipe that was posted is not close to the actual recipe. I have it in my possession. Of the other two brothers who were there when the restaurant closed one has passed away last year. I'm sure his spouse has the recipe and my other brother has it but it is not the one listed on this site.

A question regarding canning. Especially canning meats and needing a pressure canner. I am not trying to "argue" with the experts or science behind this, I an just curious.

My mom and her aunts canned meats for years. I know my aunts did not have pressure canners they had been doing this since the early part of the 20th century. They were both born in the late 1800's. Mom had 2 pressure cookers over the years (blew both of them up) so I know she canned after the last one for many years Anyhow, we have all survived.

I know when my mom did venison, and I asked her to be sure, she cooked it for at least 3 hours. So, does the issue come not so much from needing the pressure canner or from the fact people don't cook it long enough?

A question regarding canning. Especially canning meats and needing a pressure canner. I am not trying to "argue" with the experts or science behind this, I an just curious.

My mom and her aunts canned meats for years. I know my aunts did not have pressure canners they had been doing this since the early part of the 20th century. They were both born in the late 1800's. Mom had 2 pressure cookers over the years (blew both of them up) so I know she canned after the last one for many years Anyhow, we have all survived.

I know when my mom did venison, and I asked her to be sure, she cooked it for at least 3 hours. So, does the issue come not so much from needing the pressure canner or from the fact people don't cook it long enough?

I did use the Google link you mentioned. But, after a lot of reading. I don't know if it's a case of "they didn't answer my question" or "I missed the answer". I know people who have canned meats without a pressure canner and people who have eaten those canned meats for YEARS (me included) with no ill effects.

So, I'm trying to figure out what my Mom, Aunts, Grand Parents & Great Aunts, did differently, or correctly or whatever that nothing ever happened to any of us?

I just ran across this thread yesterday. Your recipe looks really good and I plan to make it asap hopefully this weekend. Thanks for posting it!

Just came across you post about the Kenny's sauce. Believe it or not there is still one in VA. Lynchburg still has a Kenny's and the sauce. Unfortuantely I live in CO and am craving that sauce from childhood.

Pacman, I hear what you are saying and I have heard tales of people canning meats and low acid vegetables like green beans in a boiling water bath for hours - and they lived to tell about it! Yes, it was done for many years. Was it successful sometimes, yes. Did people sometimes get sick and maybe even die because of food home canned like this - probably. We just don't hear about those unfortunate incidents.

Modern medicine and modern food processing methods have improved our chances when home canning. Can you find anyone today who would recommend boiling water bath canning for meats, soups, and low acid vegetables and fruits - I bet not. So play it safe!

Pacman, I hear what you are saying and I have heard tales of people canning meats and low acid vegetables like green beans in a boiling water bath for hours - and they lived to tell about it! Yes, it was done for many years. Was it successful sometimes, yes. Did people sometimes get sick and maybe even die because of food home canned like this - probably. We just don't hear about those unfortunate incidents.

Modern medicine and modern food processing methods have improved our chances when home canning. Can you find anyone today who would recommend boiling water bath canning for meats, soups, and low acid vegetables and fruits - I bet not. So play it safe!

Actually you want to use a pressure cooker for canning meats and low acid vegetables.

My recent issue of Cook's Country magazine included a recipe for a "North Jersey Texas Wiener Sauce". It sounded good, although I have never had a North Jersey Texas wiener. I figured I'd give it a try and it was pretty good. Here's the recipe along with a link to a video of me making it.